Why Nigerians think state governors are corrupt, ineffective: Governor

*Everyone thinks governors are just thieves, and we are wasting state resources, we are not doing anything, says Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State

*How Kaduna attracted more than $800million of local, foreign investments since 2016

Alexander Davis | ConsumerConnect

In a rare acknowledgement of what a broad spectrum of Nigerians usually say about their leaders with regard to the way and manner they have managed the country’s economy over time, Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has said that most people believe that governors are corrupt and ineffective.

The governor made the comment when responding to a question about why he believes the worst job in Nigeria is to be a state governor on a Channels TV programme monitored in Lagos Monday, September 21.

According to El-Rufai, his perspective was shaped by his time spent in the office thus far.

He said: “We came into office at a very bad time in terms of economic viability. We came in when oil prices were crashing into the twenties and we had inherited bureaucracies that were designed and structured around $100 per barrel oil.

“We had inherited wages at that level as well. And all of a sudden, there was this collapse and Nigeria went into a recession.”

However, in spite of the recession, the governor stated that Nigerians still expected progress to happen “overnight”.

El-Rufai stated that “Governors are the most suspected elected officials. Everyone thinks Governors are just thieves, and we are wasting state resources, we are not doing anything.

“Governors are assumed to be taking security votes. When people hear security votes, they think it is a slush fund for Governors. So we have a very negative image out there.

“Meanwhile, we have one of the most difficult jobs in the world. And we are subnational; our capacity to borrow is limited.

“The Federal Government can print money. We cannot.

“Other than Lagos, very few state governments have room to do what they can do because apart from Lagos virtually every state in Nigeria relies on Federation Account transfers. And when they go down, you are in trouble.

The Governor was speaking on the heels of the fifth edition of Kadinvest, the state government’s investment forum.

Meanwhile, the Kaduna State Governor has disclosed that his state has attracted more than $800 million of local and foreign investments since 2016.

El-Rufai stated this during his opening presentation at the fifth edition of his administration’s economic and investment summit, KadInvest.

The state has had investment announcements of over $2.1 billion in 2020, far ahead of Lagos and any other state in the country, said he.

According to him, the current administration’s focus is to enable the private sector to create jobs.

He said: “We want to make Kaduna the state of choice for investment choice. We have been able to facilitate these investments by the creation of a one-stop shop called the Kaduna Investment Promotion Agency.

The governor stated that the Deputy Governor chairs the agency, with His Royal Highness, the former Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, as the Vice-Chairman, and our commissioners as members, to operationalise and ensure the implementation of our Ease of Doing business charter.”

He said the summit was designed to showcase Kaduna besides showing the state’s our progress on an annual basis and attract investors.